I've had my certifications for the past 3 months and I keep either hearing that i'm "not qualified enough" or I "don't have enough experience". There's a fab shop (sweat shop) in my area but I really don't want to work there. Any ideas as to what I should do?

Well, I guess you are stuck in he place along with many. That's the hard part about welding. You have to start somewhere. Look at any job for welding. At least 1-2 years experience if by more. As much as it will suck working in a sweat shop, it will give you something to live on and experience. The other thing to do is while you're working is keep lookin for jobs until you get another one and keep moving up the ladder.

A student now but really want to weld everyday. Want to learn everything about everything. Want to become a knower of all and master of none. Instagram: @farmweldingNick

What kind of certs do you have? Do they cover several different processes? Sometimes it's useful to get a 6G pipe cert or something like that because then you're qualified for all positions for pipe and plate. There's several places in my area that will give a pipe welder a chance because of the high demand, even without much experience. It's all about being able to pass the company's test.

I've also found it's useful to be able to use different machines and techniques. I recently got bit by a test where I had to use scratch start Tig which I had never done before. I was also using a passive shade helmet, so it was tough to learn on the spot. After getting over being pissed off (the foreman assured me the day before it would be an xmt machine with lift-arc), I just went back to school and got my teacher to hook up an old rig and I went to town for two weeks learning how to scrape my filler rod over my tungsten on all positions on the pipe. Now I'll be covered on the next test whether I'm able to use a high freq setup or something more akin to field work.

A cert for a 2G plate test with a backing bar is pretty worthless for instance. It's nice to say "I'm certified" but it doesn't really transfer to any real type of welding out there. Any structural job that pays anything will require 4G and 3G and usually open root. And if you could pass a 4G Plate test, there's work out there. I recently read there was a 200,000 welder deficit world wide and that number only increases year over year so don't give up yet.

Take the sweat shop job. I wish I had a sweat shop job. I'm currently mig welding uphill in the snow both ways .

I'm currently working for a mechanical contractor. We do the maintenance at a plant that grinds coal into powder and then leaks half of it out. The plant shut down for Christmas and there was a thaw on Christmas Eve, so I got to lay in a little river of coal and clay sludge to put patches on a rusted out auger with a little bit of mud rain from the snow melting off of all the shoots and ladders above me. The title for the job listing was "Welder/Fabricator." I wish I would have hung up the phone when he asked me if I was ok with heights.